The Golden Dragon Dance
by Private Fire
Summary: Set in the A: TLA Deformed Shorts universe, our favorite characters prepare for The Golden Dragon Dance. But who will the most sought after girl at school choose to go with? (Katara, The Blue Spirit, Mai, and everyone else.)


**A/N:** Hello, out there in fanfic-land. Today's story takes place in the A: TLA Super Deformed Shorts universe. That's the one where everyone is _**super**_ cute and has a big head - chibi-style. The shorts do not follow canon and are super silly; same goes here.

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[Voice-over] Today, on Avatar School Time Shipping . . .

 **The Golden Dragon Dance**

 ****00****00****00****

Madame Woo, guidance counselor at Avatar Roku High School, batted her eyelids at her handsome colleague seated upon his noble steed. He smiled down at her and beseeched woefully, "Whoever shall I go with to the Golden Dragon Dance?"

"Me! I'll go with you," said Woo.

" _What? No! Madame Woo!? Eww._ "

The repulsed voice jarred Woo from her daydream. Woo had escaped into her fantasy to avoid counseling her most needy student on her latest dilemma.

Said student would seek Madame Woo's advice daily about anything and everything. What should I eat? What should I wear? Who will I marry? How tall will he be? And now, whoever shall I go with to the Golden Dragon Dance?

"Madame Woo? Please tell me," begged Katara. "I just can't decide."

Resigned to her fate, Woo fixed her with a stare and monotonously began to deal out names. "How about Haru?"

"No, too sensitive."

"Zuko?"

"Too angry."

"Jet?"

"Too untrustworthy."

"Aang?"

"Too short?"

"Sokka?"

"Eww. He's my brother."

"Oh, yeah, right."

Forging ahead, determined to give the tween an answer she could live with, Woo grabbed her drained tea cup and stared intently into it. "Yes! It shows here that the one you should go with to the Golden Dragon Dance is the quiet mysterious type."

"The quiet mysterious type?"

"Yes, the quiet mysterious type," repeated Woo indisputably.

"Who would that be?"

The bell rang.

"That's for you to find out. But you're not going to do it in here, are you, dear? Go on now. Off you go."

"Wait! One more thing." Katara fought Woo all the way to the door. "About lunch . . . ."

"Run along now and keep an eye out for the quiet mysterious type among your suitors."

"But . . . ."

"Bye. Bye."

Woo leaned against the door as if a horde of invading pirates were bent to get in and loot her office again. Satisfied the girl had gone; Woo gave up her position at the door and went back to daydreaming about guidance counselor Iroh.

 ****00****00****00****

"The quiet mysterious type. The quiet mysterious type."

Azula and her cronies Mai and Ty Lee watched as the water tribe peasant went by mumbling to herself.

"Whatever could be the matter with that girl?" asked Ty Lee.

"Don't know; don't care," Mai muttered under her breath. She was bored.

"Mai is quite right," pronounced her high and mightiness. "We can't be bothered with the likes of her. Let's talk about me!" she commanded. "So, what do I do if he doesn't ask me?"

"Of course, he'll ask you, silly! You're the most beautiful, smartest, perfect girl in the world!" Ty Lee punctuated her declaration with a cartwheel.

"Mmm. You're right. Tell me more!"

Mai rolled her eyes. She had had enough of her friends and their silly schemes. She wanted no part of it this time.

Why would anyone want to go to a dance anyway? It was stupid. It didn't make sense that everyone was making a big deal of who they would go with. They'd all just separate into their normal cliques, and do whatever they normally did. The only difference was that everyone would get dressed up and there'd be music and chaperones calling everyone out on any fun they were supposedly having. It was pointless and stupid! Who needed that? She didn't.

"And you'll be crowned Queen of the Golden Dragon Dance!"

"You are so right, Ty Lee!"

Bored of being bored, Mai slipped away when they weren't paying attention. With no particular destination in mind, she put one foot in front of the other till she almost bumped into Katara.

"Quiet mysterious type," the girl kept repeating to herself.

 _She's mental_ , thought Mai, _but still more interesting than anything else at the moment._

Suddenly, the boys came onto the scene. Mai ducked behind a bush to watch. Each boy carried an offering: dead vegetation, the hull of a marine mollusk, a chiseled paperweight.

 _Could they be more predictable?_

She noticed that the bushes across from her were moving. Aang was spying on the boys, as well. Everyone but Katara seemed to know that Aang had a crush on her.

 _What is it about this girl that gets all the boys so hot and bothered?_

The bell rang ending gift giving and spy session. They scattered lest they be late to classes and risk detention.

 ****00****00****00****

Mai had chosen drama with Lady Ursa over the other electives offered at Roku High. It was not that she liked drama - which she didn't - but that it was the least bothersome and cleanest of the choices available. She was glad of it now as it gave her access to the costume closet. After rummaging through it, Mai chose the guise of the Blue Spirit to spy on the boys and the waterbender up close. It would also allow her to act in a manner unbecoming her usual bored indifferent self. No one would know it was her and she would learn why the boys found the water tribe girl so appealing.

 ****00****00****00****

During recess, the Blue Spirit sauntered over to where the group of boys lined up to ask Katara to the dance. Jet was up first.

 _Double hook swords, interesting_ , thought the Blue Spirit.

He was ultra-confident and posed smugly. "You. Me. The dance." His swords crossed to form a heart.

 _Ugh. Someone can use a crash course in humility. Pass, you don't need him._

A blast of fire sprang into the air forming a flaming heart. From atop his komodo rhino, Zuko declared loudly, "My heart burns for you!"

 _Drama queen! He was Lady Ursa's protégé._

Haru was up. A towering sculpture of Katara sprang up from the earth at Haru's bending.

 _Impressive, but where are her arms?_ Art appreciation was being offered next semester. Who's _next?_

The Blue Spirit looked around. Aang was nowhere to be found.

 ****00****00****00****

Iroh and Woo were munching on fire flakes by an open window in the teacher's second floor lounge. Wooing Katara had become a spectator sport.

"The boys struck out. As I told you they would."

Iroh waved his Aang is #1 foam finger. "They never really had a chance."

"Wait! Who's that? Where did he come from?" asked Woo.

"I cannot say. I do not remember the Blue Spirit being matriculated this year."

"Oh, look, Iroh, look! It looks like the Blue Spirit is going to give it a go."

"An interesting turn of events," he commented. "Fire flakes?"

 ****00****00****00****

The Blue Spirit had indeed walked up to Katara. Once in front of her she made no move or sound.

Katara gazed at the blue and white mask of the spirit. _The quiet and mysterious type!_ Her cheeks turned crimson. Here was her date, just as Madame Woo had foretold. Sokka would have to have to eat his socks now!

Blue examined the girl. _Not boring._ Her dark complexion was appealing in that it was different from everyone else's _._ Her hair loopies were a thing to behold as they swayed to and fro when she moved. _They never sway so much as they do when she's angry with her brother._ _Oh, my! I had not known that I had noticed that before._

Wordlessly, Blue cocked her head and held out her hand. Katara blushed even harder as she took it.

"Yes, I'll go with you to the Golden Dragon Dance!"

"No!" the boys cried in unison.

Blue blushed under her mask. The blue-eye girl had chosen her. She nodded in acknowledgement and quickly departed.

 ****00****00****00****

Piandao left his place at the window. "I think that's that."

"Can't be," protested Bumi. "Aang has yet to ask."

They had been watching from the second floor library windows.

"Oh, there's Aang! Up in the sky. On a glider. With Teo, I think."

"Glider?" Puzzled Piandao returned to see for himself. "What does an airbender need a glider for?"

"That mad genius! Look. He's skywriting his proposal! _Katara. Will you. Go to the dance. With me?_ See?"

"But didn't she just agree to go with . . . ?"

"Shh! He's landed. It's looking good. What? This doesn't look good. Oh, no!"

Piandao's eyes went wide in disbelief. "Was he literally blown away?"

"Looks it, doesn't it?"

"So, um, is he like . . . dead?"

Bumi shrugged. "You know, it's really unclear."

 ****00****00****00****

Azula had yet to secure her date for the dance. Every time she had come close to asking Chan he upped and disappeared like he was avoiding her.

"So, Mai?" asked the Princess. "Have you asked anyone to the dance?"

"The dance is stupid. I'm not going."

"But, _M-a-i? We always do things together,"_ wailed Ty Lee.

Azula shrugged. "If she wants to be stick-in-the-mud, let her." Then she had a brilliant idea. "Come, Ty Lee! Let's go see if we can find Ruon-Jian."

Ty Lee squealed, "Oh lets!"

 ****00****00****00****

"Grandpakku!"

Pakku groaned loudly at the so-called endearment.

Jeong Jeong looked up to see Sokka coming towards them, a girl hanging off each arm. Eyebrows raised, he turned to his friend and queried, "Grandpa Ku?"

Pakku shot him a dirty look. He'd have to ask for a transfer to the Air Temple Pre-School if the nickname got around. He threatened under his breath, "How would you like it if I started calling you J.J.?"

"Hello, Mr. Jeong Jeong!" beamed Sokka.

It was the night of the dance and the students had started to arrive. Waiting for them with name tags were Paku and Jeong Jeong. They were not happy about having been impressed into service by Principal Roku. However, as Roku had explained the worst would be behind them once everyone had arrived. Besides, they could sit and sneer at the students during their ordeal.

"You, of course, know Suki," said Sokka inclining his head to his right. Then to his left, "and Yue." Sokka hadn't been able to decide between them, and the girls' duel had ended up in a draw. He pulled away from them just enough to lean in and whisper conspiratorially to the grumpy old men, "The universe loves me. Just saying."

Mischievous grins materialized on the OWL lodge members' faces as the girls exchanged death glares behind the boy's back. Sokka mistook that as agreement and left the table in high spirits.

Jeong Jeong chuckled. "How did Woo put it?"

"She said that boy's struggles and anguish are self-inflicted."

Their laughter thundered through the halls.

 ****00****00****00****

All eyes were on Blue and Katara when they entered the gym-turned-ballroom. They were in matching blues. That is to say that Katara's gown matched the blue of the Spirit's mask.

Jet, Zuko, and Haru were off in a corner commiserating together, with Aang standing nearby. It wasn't fair that Sokka had two girls and that they had none. Worse still, the Freedom Fighters had dates too. But he final nail in the coffin was that the Blue Spirit was dating the object of their affection.

At the other end of the gym, stood Azula and Ty Lee. They weren't having a good time either. Chan and Ruon-Jian were absent from the dance. They hadn't dared go with the girls out for fear of a repeat of the Ember Island party incident. As they had not learned their lesson – Azula gets what Azula wants – Azula had done something horrible to them to remind them.

"At least Zuko doesn't have a date either," remarked Ty Lee.

The Princess pouted. "Somehow, that's not enough to cheer me up."

 ****00****00****00****

Blue gazed at the water tribe girl in her arms. Mai had to admit that she didn't mind being at the dance, or dancing at all. She was happy. Perhaps it was because the disguise allowed her to let go and be free to be whoever she felt like at any given moment. There were no expectations of her while she was the Blue Spirit. But as Mai, Agni forbid she should show any emotion, or enjoy herself in the slightest. One camp would admonish her for it and the other would faint dead away. _Oh, no! Mai is expressing emotion! It's the end of the world! Sozin's Comet is coming! Run for your lives!_

Or, maybe, it was the company that made her smile. Perhaps there was something to this girl that appealed to her just as much as it did the boys.

As for Katara, she was on cloud nine dancing with her quiet mystery date. Madame Woo was so right! Quiet and mysterious was just her type. She'd have to remember to thank Woo.

 ****00****00****00****

Principal Roku nodded at everyone he passed, happy to see people having a good time. As he went, he graciously thanked the parents who had volunteered to chaperone. Suddenly, he found himself face-to-face with Ozai, the head of the PTA (Parental Tyrants Anonymous).

"Roku?"

"Ozai?"

So began the staring contest. It was Avatar vs. former jerk-grandson-in-law. Seconds went by; then a minute. Neither was relenting. People backed away from the two and gave them a wide berth.

Just then, an even bigger jerk, truant officer Zhao, came between them. "Excuse me," Zhao grunted. "I see people having fun!" He strode away angrily, anxious to break things up. He could be heard saying, "Must drive fear into their hearts, and reduce them to tears, never again able to rise from the ashes of their shame and humiliation." He plagiarized Azula all the time.

Piandao, trying to close in on Zhao, had also slipped in between Roku and Ozai; thus ending the battle with no winner to be had.

"Roku."

"Ozai."

They parted ways. Disaster averted.

A second potential disaster was averted a mere moment later when Piandao successfully tackled Zhao by the Koizilla tank without anyone getting hurt.

 ****00****00****00****

The boys had decided to band together and unmask the Blue Spirit. After all, how dare he? How dare he come in and swoop Katara off her feet? He had no right! Not to mention that there was a line and he cut in front of Aang!

Azula wasn't having any fun and without a date she had no chance of being crowned Queen of the Golden Dragon Dance. To remedy her mood, she had decided to unmask the Blue Spirit. She and Ty Lee would need a quiet place to formulate a plan.

 ****00****00****00****

Roku and Kyoshi had sequestered themselves in the Principal's office. They were discussing the disruption caused by the Blue Spirit's appearance and doing shots of fire whiskey.

"My point is that the Blue Spirit stole Aang's date."

Kyoshi slammed her shot glass on the desk. "We cannot remain passive while he steals the Avatar's date and disrupts the balance at the school. He has forced a confrontation."

"Whoa! I only meant to say that when love is real it finds a way; and sometimes that way is for Avatars to help each other out. You know, mentor each other? Besides, cutting the line is only punishable by detention."

"Only justice will bring peace. Detention it is!"

 ****00****00****00****

The Duke raised the alarm. "Someone's coming!"

People jumped up from their positions on the floor. The marks, Meng and Koko, ran out of the bathroom. Smellerbee collected the scattered loot and Toph pocketed the dice. Longshot motioned for everyone to hustle into the stalls so as not to get caught. They made it except for The Duke who had run the wrong way and right smack into Princess Azula.

"What are you doing in the girl's bathroom?" she demanded.

He withered under the Fire Princess' glare. "I had to go and it was closer than the boy's bathroom?"

"This bathroom is now closed for repairs."

Conscious of how flammable he is, The Duke made a panicked dash out the door. Azula and Ty Lee took a few steps into the bathroom and stopped. The top of Pipsqueak's head could be seen above a stall.

"Alright, come out."

Doors sung open. Toph, a/k/a The Blind Bandit, a/k/a The Melon Lord, strode out in front of the group. "Well, well, well; if it isn't The Dangerous Ladies minus Miss Gloom."

"What in Agni's name is going on?"

Smellerbee was itching for a fight. "You're messing with our action is what's going on. Scram!"

"Why are you here?" asked Toph.

"Never mind that," Azula flashed them her signature evil grin. "How about I slice you a piece of our action?" She offered them a bounty for the Blue Spirit's mask.

"Did someone say bounty?" called June as she leaned against the bathroom entrance.

 ****00****00****00****

The couple had captivated the student body and faculty alike. They approved of the gentle and respectful attention the Blue Spirit was giving his date. Whenever someone had tried to cut in, Blue had whirled Katara out of reach and continued to waltz her around the dance floor. The couple was favored to be King and Queen of the Golden Dragon Dance.

Aang had decided not to join the boys in their efforts. While they argued over strategy, Aang had pulled away to watch his crush happily chat and dance with her mysterious date. It made him happy that she was happy. His jealousy and disappointment had melted away because of it. He was content that the Blue Spirit was treating her as he would have.

Suddenly, Aang's Avatar senses started to tingle. He noticed three things almost simultaneously. One: the boys had started to move towards the couple. Two: Azula, Ty Lee, Toph, the Freedom Fighters and June were moving together as a group. Three: Principal Roku and Avatar/gym teacher Kyoshi had entered the gym. All were converging on the Blue Spirit and Katara.

Blue had noticed it too. She brought Katara to a full stop and considered the unfolding scenario. The Avatar waved his arms and caught Blue's attention. He wanted to help. They'd need a distraction to stop everyone in their tracks. Aang recalled Jeong Jeong and Pakku wagering on how Sokka's evening. "Sorry, Sokka," he whispered and whipped up a high wind that staggered Suki into Yue.

Plates of food bounced off dresses and splattered innocent bystanders when they hit the floor. Yelps and strings of foul language drew attention from all corners of the gym.

Someone yelled, "Food fight!"

"My cabbages!"

"Tui and La! Moon powers, now!"

Suki drew her fans from the folds in her dress. "The Unagi's gonna eat well tonight."

"Ladies, please!" begged Sokka. "Everything was going so well. Why does the universe hate me?"

Others were heard yelling: "No bending!" "Who shot that lightning?" "I can't move my arms!"

Blue pulled Katara towards the emergency exit.

"But, Sokka!"

Eyes turned from the escalating melee and zeroed in on them. A mob made a dash for the Blue Spirit. Aang sneezed up a gale pushing everyone back.

"We've got to go!"

Her quiet mysterious date had spoken. Blue motioned for her to follow, but Katara remained rooted to the ground. Should she stay or should she go? Would Principle Roku get things back under control before the mob came after them?

"Go! I'll stall them."

"But . . ."

"Go!"

Katara whipped around to gauge the odds. She turned back again to urge her date to run, but the Blue Spirit had vanished leaving only the mask behind.

 ****00****00****00****

Come Monday, the students were back in class and everyone was talking about the big fight and the Blue Spirit. Word was it had been everyone for themselves; students versus teachers; benders versus non-benders; and Avatars against the junior Avatar.

The gym was closed. Those who hadn't attended the dance debated whether that was due to water or fire damage. Some said there was a structural collapse. Those scheduled for detention in the library under the watchful eyes of Wan Shi Tong weren't talking.

All this because the Blue Spirit had disturbed the balance at the school with his appearance, and his audacity for dating the most sought after girl at the school. Had it not been for him, the dance would have been mediocre and forgotten in a few days' time. But thanks to the Blue Spirit, the Golden Dragon Dance had become legendary.

Take that Ba Sing Se High School! Roku High rules!

 ****00****00****00****

Katara caught up with Mai between periods. "You forgot something." She passed the Blue Spirit mask to Mai.

"You guessed."

"You have a unique voice," said Katara with a smile.

"You're not disappointed?"

She laughed. "No. I get a lot of attention from people I'm not in to. You're different."

An eyebrow disappeared under Mai's bangs.

"I mean that in a good way! You're not rushing to impress me, or getting me gifts, or trying to carry my books; or anything like that. I mean you let me talk and just be me, you know? You listened, and that means a lot."

Mai blushed and smiled.

"You're real pretty when you smile, you know?"

Mai blushed harder. "I usually don't have a reason to."

"Oh?" Katara grew bolder. "So? What would you say if I asked you to go to a mover with me?"

"You wanna go with me?"

"Yeah."

"Depends," Mai teased. "Which one?"

"I dunno. I hear Shyamalan's got a new film out."

The raven-haired girl made a face.

"If it sucks, we can think of something else to do," Katara said not so subtly.

"In the dark?"

Katara turned crimson again.

"You're on."

 ****00****00****00****

Aang didn't catch a single word of their conversation, but he had seen Katara hand the mask to Mai and filled in the blanks. He was amazed at how naturally the two flirted back and forth. Wasn't that how love was supposed to be? Or, as counselor Iroh would say, infatuation?

 _Either way, girls are amazing_ , Aang thought to himself. _I can't wait for my next incarnation. I'm gonna be a girl!_

And just like that Aang's demeanor had changed. No more sulking or obsessing. So content was he that his arrows had started to glow.

He didn't notice the boys bickering – "I saw him first!" – as he passed them in the hall.

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 **A/N:**

The character Koko appeared in The Warriors of Kyoshi and in School Time Shipping.


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